Cowboys draft QB for first time since 2009, select Dak Prescott

April 30, 2016

After falling short on at least one of the quarterback prospects on their draft board, the Dallas Cowboys Saturday used their fourth-round pick to select Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, giving the team another candidate as heir apparent to veteran Tony Romo.

The Cowboys took Prescott with the 135th overall pick in the fourth round, two days after a failed bid to trade up in an effort to select Paxton Lynch of Memphis. Owner Jerry Jones had his eyes set on the 6-foot-7 prospect, but attempts to trade up from the 34th overall to the 26th were unsuccessful.

John Elway and the Denver Broncos snagged Lynch..

Prescott doesn’t care if he was the second, or even the third choice. He’s dreamt of playing for the Cowboys since he was a young boy, he said Saturday.

“This means everything. It was just something I dreamed about,” Prescott said. “I ran around the house acting like I was a Cowboys quarterback my whole life, so for it all to come true it’s such a blessing. Just being here with my family, and Mr. Jones gave me that call, and just the excitement to have my family a majority of Cowboys fans, it was awesome.”

Regardless, there are several signs which point to the fact the Cowboys had been scouting Prescott for weeks — he met with the Cowboys at the Senior Bowl, where he was named the game’s MVP, as well as making a pre-draft visit at the team’s Valley Ranch facility and meeting with Jones for a private workout.

The 22-year-old dual-threat quarterback owns 38 Mississippi State school records. Prescott threw for 3,793 yards last season with 29 touchdown passes and five interceptions.

Cowboys veteran Tony Romo missed 12 games last season with a twice-broken collarbone, and shortly after, Dallas fell from first place to the bottom of the NFC East table, finished 4-12 on the year. Kellen Moore was Romo’s backup when the season concluded, additional quarterback Jameill Showers spent the majority of the season on the Cowboys practice squad.

Prescott was asked Saturday to describe any similarities he saw between himself and the 36-year-old Romo. He said the main similarity is how the two are always putting their teams in a position to win games.

“Romo wins and I win … He always has the Cowboys in position to win a game. I feel like I did the same thing in college.

“It’ll be awesome. I’m going to go in there I’m going to work and compete,” he added. “I’m going to do the best I can and work as hard as I can and try to outwork everyone there. Pushing Tony Romo, pushing the other guys, Kellen Moore, and just know while I’m doing that I’m making myself better and making my whole team better.”

Prescott’s selection makes him the first quarterback to be drafted by the Cowboys since the 2009 selection of Stephen McGee.

David Barclay is an NFL Insider for byteclay.com. He is a member of the Professional Football Writers of America. Email, djamesbarclay@icloud.com, Twitter, @DJamesIII